Holly’s brother Hunter got into some serious trouble. Instinctively, he turned to his sister.

“What are you doing?” Holly asked him aggressively as he tumbled into her house at 4 A.M. “I’m in trouble,” he responded out of breath. “I need your help.” Once Hunter sat Holly down and explained everything to her, they packed for a long trip. Neither of them knew where they were headed, they just knew they needed to get far away from their little hometown.

Hours later, the siblings crossed two states. They were now in Nebraska still going west. Hunter pulled Holly’s Honda Civic into the next gas station. “I’ll pump some gas. You go get some snacks,” he told her quite demanding. She scoffed at him and went inside. When Holly came out of the bathroom, she noticed her car was missing from pump number four. Her heart sped up as she rushed to the door, only to find Hunter had parked it in the front of the store.

“You okay?” Hunter said sneaking up behind his sister and scaring her. Holly jumped and nodded once she caught her breath. They bought some more road snacks and started their drive again.

Just before they drove over the Nebraska-Wyoming state line, a fun shot was fired. Hunter lost control of the car, and they spun off the road. They weren’t injured but they were very scared, more so Holly than Hunter considering he was in the military. “What the hell was that?!” Holly screamed. Both exited the vehicle to see what was going on. Two black Cadillac suvs stopped in the middle of the road. Four big scruffy men exited one, then another four followed suit from the other. They began to close the 50 yards between them and Hunter. Hunter pulled out his bag from the backseat. He was searching for something. Holly had no idea what was going on.

“Here, take this,” Hunter said shoving their mom’s three-pound ruby into Holly’s hands. “Guard this with your life, understand?” Still really confused, Holly nodded. Her brother gave her one last right hug and a kiss on the head. “I love you. Now run!” Holly took off without looking back. The men weren’t after her, they were after her brother. Holly’s adrenaline was pumping hard. She ran about 100 yards before the thought of turning around crossed her mind. She slowed down enough to see one of the huge men had picked up Hunter by his throat and held him against the car while another man constantly beat him. Holly began to cry but continued to run.

About an hour passed. Holly knew her brother was gone. She had so many unanswered questions but she had a feeling why he had their mother’s ruby and what those men wanted with it. Finally, Holly came across a small town with a small gas station and diner. Before she could approach either or, the suvs pulled in front of her. Out of fear, Holly fell to her knees. Two men exited the first suv. Holly was weak. She gave up and let the two men take her away.